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James Goldman's The Lion In Winter ( 1966 )
"Excaliber Production's presentation of James Goldman's The Lion In Winter comes through without a hitch at The Wabash Triangle Café in University City. Though the play ran a bit long, the cast did quite well, with a few minor exceptions. Darryl Maximilian Robinson's portrayal of King Henry II is a balanced and finely measured combination of greed, deceit and compassion...Darryl Maximilian Robinson's staging and direction ( he is the founder and mainstay of this troupe ) work cleanly through an excellent script. I favor the simple set design of black wooden thrones and benches; it allows the actors to do their work without getting in the way. It's an entertaining show, overall, one I'd recommend seeing." -- Mark Hamilton, Intermission Magazine, St. Louis Edition. Jan. 1993. Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago Founder Darryl Maximilian Robinson Had A Career Highlight Directing And Playing King Henry II in A 1992 Staging of James Goldman's Acclaimed Royal Family Drama The Lion In Winter With A Gifted and Talented Young Multiracial Excaliber Productions, Ltd. of Chicago Cast At The Wabash Triangle Café In St. Louis! The original 1966 Broadway production of James Goldman's The Lion In Winter ran just less than 100 performances in New York at The Ambassador Theatre. Even with some fine notices and acclaimed performances by a wonderful Robert Preston as King Henry II of England and a dazzling Rosemary Harris as Queen Eleanor of the Aquitaine ( for which she would score a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress In A Play ),even with a fine supporting actor named Christopher Walken ( a future Oscar Winner ) as King Phillip of France, Goldman's critically-praised script with a fine and praised Broadway staging lasted less than 100 performances. It was only two years later, in 1968, when James Goldman captured an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film version of the work enacted by incredible Best Actor Oscar Nominee Peter O'Toole as King Henry II and amazing Best Actress Oscar Winner Katherine Hepburn as Queen Eleanor of the Aquitaine that every stage performer that was a character actor or character actress worth his salt wanted to be in Goldman's great, biting, dysfunctional family drama and comedy of the war-waging Plantagenets at Yuletide. There have been many fine and successful stagings of Goldman's play around the U.S. and Europe over the last five decades. One that might be of interest is Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago Founder and Joseph Jefferson Citationb Award-winning Principal Actor Darryl Maximilian Robinson's 1992 non-Equity professional, multiracial cast rendition of the work presented under the banner of Excaliber Productions, Ltd. of Chicago at the intimate and lively Wabash Triangle Café in St. Louis. Mr.Robinson directed and starred as King Henry II opposite a and racially-diverse talented cast that included Anna Altman and Deborah Phillips alternating in the role of Queen Eleanor, Carey S, Means and Albert Stephens alternating in the role of Prince Richard the Lionheart, Patrick B. Hensler as Prince Geoffrey, Phillip Alexis Watt as Prince John, Louis A. Wells as King Phillip of France and Anjula Chan ( who skillfully designed the 12th-century costumes as Princess Alais.